I am writing this post in response to a comment by Miri, on my post, "The Nine Days."
For those of you who did not read the comment, here it is:
My teacher told me that when moshiach comes we won't be happy- we'll be terrified! Only tzadikim will be able to greet moshiach with joy. I am not a tzadik by any means and now I don't want moshiach any more. Help!
I want to point out something that you may not have heard before.
I'm sure we all know and heard that the times before Moshiach comes will be terribly painful. We see this for ourselves. There is pain and suffering all over. I don't have to go into detail to describe each thing but each person does not have to look too far to notice that every family is touched in some way by these terrible times. Illness, death, financial problems, shalom bayis, trying to keep our children on the proper derech, there is no one person, no one family that is immune to the obvious chevlei moshiach.
When a person looks around at all the terrible things going on, it is easy to question and say to Hashem, "Why?!" and to turn away. But those who do not turn away from Hashem despite all the craziness going on around us, those who continue to cling to Hashem with faith, will be praised and admired when moshiach finally comes. They will be told, "After all you saw around you, you still remained faithful to Hashem and still kept His mitzvos?!?! Wow!! Look how special you are!!"
So the first thing I want you to know, Miri, is that if you are still holding on closely to Hashem, then you can consider yourself extra special and yes, you will be able to greet moshiach with joy!! You ar soo precious to Hashem for still remaining close to Him and just for that alone, you have enough of a reason to be sure that you will greet moshiach with joy.
We just came out of a tisha b'av. We (hopefully) cried and mourned and begged Hashem for moshiach. So why do we really want moshiach that badly?
What will happen when moshiach comes that makes us want him to come already???
Firstly, we know that the bais hamikdosh will be rebuilt in all its splendor and glory. There will be a closeness to Hashem like you have never felt before. If you have ever been to the Kosel, try to imagine the feeling you felt when you standed there in awe...now multiply that feeling again and again and you still might not be able to imagine the feeling of closeness we will get to experience once moshiach arrives!
There will be an end to all the pain and suffering! That means, no more crazy stories making the headlines, no more tradgedies, only good things will be happening!!
There will be answers to all of our questions! We will be able to understand why all the things that we perceived as terrible happened and how they really were the best that ever could have taken place!
There will be an end to all our confusion. No more wondering, "why..."
There will exist a clarity in the world like never before. The goyim will respect us and look to us with admiration and yes, jealousy. They will praise us and praise Hashem for all that He did and continues to do.
Techiyas Hameisim.
I think you all know that this one has a special place in my heart.
Almost four years ago, my younger brother, Shalom, was niftar. (His yartzheit is coming up and I will be writing a few posts about that soon iy"h.) Can you imagine my joy and excitement when we finally get to meet once again?!Can you imagine the amazing feeling each and every one of us will experience when we get to see those people who left the world?!
I know that I want moshiach badly.
What about you?
I'm sure there are other reasons you wait for moshiach - what are they?
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I was so convinced that I wouldn't have to fast this Tisha B'Av. I was soooo ready for Mashiach to come now. And now that Tisha B'Av is over and we have a whole nother year to wait, it gets a little depressing, for the opposite reason than Miri's. It's so easy to get discouraged when we learna dn grow soooo hardfor Mashiach to come and ... nothing appens. Is he really coming? Is it all some big myth? I mean, it's been thousands of years and each gadol has waited . . . and died and no Mashiach. How do we keep waiting forever and not lose faith??
ReplyDeleteI was listening to a shiur by Chevi Garfinkel yesterday and she said that she learned the Rambam on Mashiach that life will continue as normal, just happier, right? and then she was learning other opinions on Mashiach who said there will be no death, sickness, poverty, confusion, terror attacks, etc etc and life will be spiritually higher and beautiful. ANd she was confused. But I thought it was just normal life? ANd then she realized. The way life is right now- thats NOT normal life! The normal way of the world is NOT such abject sorrow- that's ONLY because of Galus! The time of Mashiach is going to be how the world SHOULD norally be, with tranqulity, happiness and clarity and all growing to become closer to Hashem without the scoffing of others. I thoght that was a pretty cool thing to think about. Hope it helped!
Wow anon - that is such a beautiful thought!! Thanks for sharing it!
ReplyDeleteI totally feel with you and I think we all agree - it's soo hard to keep on waiting and hoping...but that's the test! And those who withstand the test of this painful galus and continue to trust in Hashem no matter what, they will be the ones to greet Moshiach in all His glory!!
Here's another thing that just came to my mind:
If all the great gedolim of the past generations couldn't bring moshiach with all of their tears and tefillos, how do we expect to bring moshiach?! I mean, we are on a muuuuch lower level than them! So if they couldn't get moshiach to come, how will we ever do it?!!
You can look to the kosel for the answer - it is soo amazing and gave me such chizuk when I heard it!
If you look at the kosel, you'll see that the bottom stones are HUGE and as you get to the top of the wall, the stones get smaller and smaller. It is the same with the building of the bais hamikdosh - the gedolim of past generations already laid the foundation - those huge stones are already there, the bais hamikdosh is almost built already! Now it's up to us to finish the job! With our tears and with our tefillos, with our precious mitzvos, we can complete the building of the bais hamikdosh, just by placing the little stones on the top of it...our 'little' deeds!
So you see, our little deeds are not so little - they are huge because we are putting the finishing touches on the building of the bais hamikdosh!!
What a comforting thought!!
Its really hard to imagine. i really want to have all my queations answered and to always be happy. I wish that mmoshiach coould come tomoro. i say it all the time that i want moshiach now but now i'm thinking about it and i dont know if i really believe that it could come tomoro or the next. i just cant imagine it. it seems so vague. yes i really want it to come but it doesnt sees so real to me. it feels like its just a nice thing that i long for but i don'tknow...maybe i'm lacking in my emunah? is this a normal feeling? it'snot like i dont believe and dont cry 4 it and dont want it. i do!! so why do i deep in my heart not truelly believe that it may 4 real come tomorow?
ReplyDeleteha like everyone says this is it. This is the end moshiach is finally really almost here and yet it feels so far away i think maybe today it will come and then it doesn't so maybe tomorrow and the next and the next. So is it really coming soon? and what does soon mean? you know it all relative soon can be in 100 yrs. living in the 21 first century were everything is in an instant at the press of s button soon means like tomorrow or and hour the most next weeks. so really what is soon?
ReplyDeletetm passaic
We live our lives everyday... what we feel is normal. Wake up in the morning, daven, eat, school or work...ect. a regular day. With challenges, difficulties, hardships along the way we dont realize what life would be without them. This is normal. But like you said before, its really not normal. This is not the way we should be living. But if its the way weve been living for as long as weve existed, we dont know any other way. We really dont know what it means to be living without troubles. We can only try to even imagine what that is like.
ReplyDeleteTo think about mashiach in general is hard. Its a hard concept to grasp. All we can do is dream and hope and wish and daven for something we know will be all good for us. We cant really understand, but we know that we want it. we know that we need it. and we know that there is a G-d who loves and is watching over us and will bring the Geula when the time is just right. We must pray to Him and ask to make that time as soon as possible!
i already made a post about my question. i feel like i really understand everything now, but tomorrow i might be confused again. sometimes my emunah is strong and i feel very connected and other days i feel totally unassociated with H-shem. on those days or moments my davening has no Kavana and i just don't feel H-shems prescense as much. however on other days i can feel so close and really daven well and really feel H-shems hashgacha. Yes, i do believe in H-shem so why am i flucyuating? Why do i not 1000% feel the coming of Moshiach?
ReplyDelete1st Anon posting again, the Anonymous's are getting confusing:
ReplyDeleteThat's the way our lives are, our emunah's up and down, one day we feel suchhhh a strong connection to Hashem, it is unreal and the next day... nothing. You have to pushand push yourself to feel it but if you push, Hashem comes along and helps. I hadn't been davening for a little bit, catching up on sleep, etc. And the first day I davened mincha again, knew I would be just saying words, fast. But I said, "Hashem today i's just going ot be about getting through it, ut please help me withmy davening so that I can get back into my 20 minute intense mincha davenings." Amd the next day I was just saying words again, but a little slower. And the next day I felt the words. And yesterday, maybe a week later, I paused before starting Shemona Esrai and said "Hmm, Hashem, that's really cool! I jus realized that nowmy davening is soooo great and my connection with you is skyyrocketing! You helped me!" I'm finally back to seeing Hashme in everything, and in erything that goes right and everything that goes wrong. Just start, ad He helps.
Anyway, that day, it was a few days after Tisha B'Av when I was so convinced Mashiach could come, I had been growing so much, my friends had been, we ewre sooo good, and then I heard about that whole money laundering scandal. And all of the sudden, "How can Mashiach come?? This wrold is nuts! The nonJews have the world order skewed! ANd Jews are falling into their traps! ANd Jews are skwewing morals too! This world is NOWHERE near where it has to be for Mashiach. And relly, does it make sense that tomorrow, this world and life that's been ere for so long, this house that's been stanidn gofr decades, the trees and grass and sidewalks which are just so firmly here , could just disappear?? Mashiach could just come ?? And all of the sudden peace and tranquility adn world order is all back? This world eems so physcially HERE, how could anything world-altering really hapening in the next second?
And then I read that the Lubavitcher Rebbe said that the Holocaust was the physical huge suffering Jews would endure before Mashiach and that there would not be another mass Jewish suffering. ANd it made no sense to me. I
m waiting for World War Three. But then I realized, maybe the intense suffering of our generation, RIGHT BEFORE MASHIACH, is the spiritual, individual type. of the world's morals being so whacked and Jews becoming so whacked. And us having to endure reading and living it. ...
Eeep... sorry this is so long.. just some thoughts...
2nd Anon and 4th Anon - (sorry, these Anons are getting confusing...)
ReplyDeleteIt is something that we all need to work on - to keep the feelings in our hearts alive each day. Of course we all want moshiach to come - so why is it that some days we feel it and some days we dont? If you train yourself to consciously think about moshiach each day, you will see that you will feel that you really want himt to come. You just need to remind yourself each day that you want moshiach and then you will see yourself feeling it too.
The more you think about moshiach and why you want him to come, the more you'll feel it in your heart!
tm - when is soon? I think it's whenever we make it! When someone says, "I'll be there soon," what does soon mean? It means "when I'm ready and willing and able to come, I'll be there..." Yes, it's hard because we keep waiting but it's really up to us to make soon REALLY soon!! It's hard to wait soo long but we have to keep remembering that the key to the geula is in our hands!
Thanks Tamar for your thoughts! Yes, we are truly going through such intense spiritual suffering - may it end very quickly!!
Last night I heard at a shuir(he gave a source but I don't remember it)that time, for Bnei Yisroel is compared to a body. The Avos-they are the head- and now, we are the heels!
ReplyDeleteWhere are the heels on a person? At the bottom with all the dirt. We are sourounded by so mcuh dirt and disgusting things BUT the feet are what direct the body! We are the ones who can direct Klal Yisroel in whatever direction we go in! If we do good things, then WE can bring the Geula!
I have always asked 'But the rest of the world is so crazy and backward, how on earth can Moshiach come?' The answer that I have been given was, don't worry about everyone else, just work on yourself!
(There is a story from the Chofetz Chaim that he wanted to change the world so he wanted to start by changing his town and it didn't work so he tried just his shul and he wasn't succesful so he decided to work on his family and he was agian, unsuccessful. Finally he worked on himself and he changed the world!)
Wow! Tmima, that is amazing!! Yes, we are definitely seeing that we are surrounded by dirt but we have the responsiblity of directing the whole body towards one place - Yerushalayim, with moshiach! May we get there quickly!!
ReplyDeleteI'm the 2nd and 5th anonymous. so i think that i basically get it now. so what i need to is work on myself to bring moshiach and just know that H-shem loves me and cares about me and he will bring moshiach in the perfect time for us. yes, we want it soon but if it doesn't come when we want it we should not give up hope we should just costantly ingrain the idea into ourselves that we really want moshiach and it will become more apart of us. and most of all we each have to continue doing our best bec. that is what will help bring moshiach and we have a huge responsibility to lead klal yisroel into the right direction!!! i think i got today, i hope i still have it tomoro but i really liked what u said about that tamar- the daveninng mincha thing. your example felt so real, and understandable.thank you so much for all of ur inspiration! i think that this blog is an amazing place. it's so easy to just ask ur questions and to get inspiration!!! thank you to everyone!!!
ReplyDeletei'm the last anon.- just one more thing! i think that this blog is one of the things that will help to bring moshiach!!
ReplyDeleteAmen!! Thanks Chaya Sara for your amazing blog!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your comments and feedback!
ReplyDeleteI am soo happy that you are able to find chizuk and inspiration here on this blog and you feel that you can ask questions and get answers!!
Devorah
P.S. I'm Chaya Sara's sister. (She is in Eretz Yisroel now so I'm taking over her blog for the summer.)